…Suspected ghost workers given a week to meet El-Rufai for screeningKaduna State Governor,Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has personally met withsome employees of the state who were affected by the biometricverification exercise carried out to flush out ghost workers andauthenticate genuine employees of the state.

At the conclusion of the verification exercise, about 9,000 nameswere struck off from the payroll.

Kaduna state government said any genuine worker who felt adverselyaffected was directed to contact the governor directly to establishtheir credentials.

El-rufai who met with 21 persons amongst the officers that havewritten to seek a chance to confirm their status as genuine employeesof the State Government noted that all of the affected employees hadissues based on having duplicate or multiple Personnel Sub-headNumbers (PSNs).

“That means two or more workers had been assigned the same PSN, andthe payroll will recognise only one”

According to Kaduna state government: “All the 21 persons in thisbatch were able to provide documents that verify their status, andthey were cleared. Each received an apology for the difficulties theyhad faced. They were assured that they will be restored to thepayroll, and all their arrears paid. While resolving the multiple PSNissues that had entangled these officers, four possible ghost workerswere identified and it was agreed that these four persons be providedan opportunity to clear their names. They are: Akwanko Ezekiel, YerimaSani,Solomon Makasua and Mariam Idris”

“These four persons have a week to come forward and table alldocuments that can testify to their bonafides”

Narrating their joy over been cleared by the governor el-Rufaipersonally, Monica PZ Ango,who works with the Dental Centre, an agencyof the Ministry of Health and Human Services,said her problem was thatshe shared her Personnel Sub-head Number with three other employees asa result of which her salary was stopped from February 2016.

She said after writing to the governor and attaching her relevantdocuments, she was invited to come for a special screening conductedby the governor himself.Describing the interaction with El-rufai, she said: “he has thoroughlychecked our documents to see where the problems lie. In fact, he hasdone a good work and I appreciate him for taking his time out tolisten to the plight of those of us affected.

“Some of us have not been paid for eight to nine months and theexperience so far is not good but we thank the God we have scaledthrough and he has listened to us and has assured us that somethingwill be done concerning our issues,” she added.Sharing his personal experience, David John, the Principal ofGovernment Secondary School (GSS) Paki, Anchau Zone, in Ikara LGA,said his problem was that he shared PSN number with one Buhari IsahYusuf, also a teacher in another zone within the same Ministry ofEducation.

He said he was called to see the governor for a screening afterwriting a letter stating his complaints with all his documentsattached; “my interaction with the governor is very lively andenjoyable because the governor is very simple, accommodating andfriendly. I feel very comfortable now because he assured us that ourproblems will be solved “

Amina Abubakar, who works with the Private Schools Board under theMinistry of Education, Science and Technology, said she shared a PSNnumber with one Lawal Ya’u who is serving with a school in BirninGwari.

Amina said she noticed the problem ten years ago and complainedformally but nothing was done: “I noticed this problem more than tenyears ago and formally complained but the officers said ‘do you wantto show us our jobs’? I foresaw this problem coming long ago. So mysalary was stopped in January to date.

“When my name was listed among those with problems after theverification started, I complained to my superiors and I was asked towrite to the office of the governor which I did and copied the Head ofService, Commissioner of Education, Accountant General and my Directorat the Board. Last week we got sms that we are to come and beverified by His Excellency.

“My interaction with the governor is a perfect opportunity for mebecause I have never been to the Government House. Our governor is agood man that has the plight of people in his heart especially thecivil servants.I feel satisfied that the governor gave us assurance that soon we aregoing to get our salaries arrears and the problems will berectified”she said.